4 The Guardian | Thursday 19 May 2011

Inside sport special report Premier League finances

In sickness and in wealth: a guide to the latest

All details from most recently filed official information at Companies House. Debts are borrowings from banks, financial institutions, owners or other sources. All turnover category totals have been rounded to the nearest million.

Arsenal Aston Villa Birmingham City Blackburn Blackpool

Turnover £382m ▲ Turnover £91m ▲ Turnover £56m ▲ Turnover £58m ▲ Turnover £9m ▲
up from £316m in 2009 up from £84m in 2008 up from £27.5m in previous year up from £51m in previous year up from £7m in 2009
Gate and match-day income £94m Gate and match-day income £24m Gate and match-day income £7m Gate and match-day income £6m
TV and broadcasting £85m TV and broadcasting £52m TV and broadcasting £42m TV and broadcasting £43m
Retail £13m Commercial £14m Commercial £7m Commercial £9m
Commercial £31m
Property development £156m
Player trading £1m
Wage bill £110m ▲ Wage bill £80m ▲ Wage bill £38m ▲ Wage bill £47m ▲ Wage bill £13m ▲
up from £103m in previous year up from £50m in 2008 up from £27m in previous year up from £46m in 2009 up from £6m in 2009
Wages as proportion of turnover 29% Wages as proportion of turnover 88% Wages as proportion of turnover 68% Wages as proportion of turnover 81% Wages as proportion of turnover 144%
Profit before tax £56m Loss before tax £38m Profit before tax £0.1m Loss before tax £2m Loss before tax £7m
following £46m profit last year following £46m loss last year following £20m loss in 2009 following £4m profit in 2009 following £1m loss in 2009

Net debt £136m Net debt £110m Net debt £16m Net debt £21m Net debt £4.3m
Interest payable £19m Interest payable £5m Interest payable £1m Interest payable £0.7m Interest payable £0.06m
Highest paid director Highest paid director Highest paid director Highest paid director Highest paid director Not stated
Ivan Gazidis £1.7m Unnamed director £0.237m Karren Brady £0.725m John Williams £0.358m Accounts for the year to 31 May 2010
Accounts for the year to 31 May 2010 Accounts for the year to 31 May 2010 (£26K for one month plus £699,000 pay-off ) Accounts for the year to 30 June 2010
Accounts for the 10 months to 30 June 2010 Ownership
Ownership Ownership Ownership Owen Oyston 76.3%
Arsenal Holdings plc major shareholders are: Reform Acquisitions LLC Ownership Venkateshwara Hatcheries (Venky’s) of Pune, India Valery Belokon 20%
Kroenke Sports Enterprises UK (US company) 62%* (US company, owned ultimately by Randy Lerner) Birmingham International Holdings
Red and White Securities Ltd (Jersey company) 27% (incorporated in the Cayman Islands) Money put in by owners £104m Money put in by owners £2.7m owed to Oyston’s company,
*includes agreed purchase of Nina Bracewell-Smith’s 15.9% Money put in by owners £206m £100m in capital, £4m in interest-free loans Segesta, and £276,000 owed to Oyston personally; Belokon
£116m in cash for shares, £90m in loan notes Money put in by owners £15m was owed £603,000 (repaid in December). Karl Oyston owed
Money put in by owners Nil loan from Carson Yeung the club a £26,751 interest-free loan he had taken out

Turnover Turnover Turnover Turnover Turnover

£382m £91m £56m £58m £9m

Wage bill Wage bill Wage bill Wage bill Wage bill

£110m £80m £38m £47m £13m

Debt as % of Premier League total Debt as % of Premier League total Debt as % of Premier League total Debt as % of Premier League total Debt as % of Premier League total

5.3% 4.4% 0.6% 0.8% 0.2%

State they're in
Arsène Wenger’s team’s big-match
collapses, major shareholders pocketing
millions selling to Stan Kroenke and
6.5% increases to ticket prices have
cracked the Emirates Stadium halo. The
figures look healthy – highest Premier
League club turnover, £56m profit, but
the truer state of finances came in the
six month accounts to November 2010,
with income from selling the flats in the
old Highbury (worth £156m to May 2010)
no longer coming in. Arsenal lost £6m.
Outlook Will fare well when Uefa’s
financial fair play rules come in, because
their income is high. But the “Arsenal
way” no longer looks so pure.
State they're in
These are sobering figures, from
Martin O’Neill’s final season in charge,
signalling why reality bit for Randy
Lerner’s “good American” takeover
at Villa Park. Lerner has problems to
address despite £206m invested. Their
turnover of £91m at the 42,582-capacity
Villa Park is the Premier League’s
seventh highest, but is so far behind
Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal
they risk becoming a seller of players to
the top clubs.
Outlook Scaling back after O’Neill’s
sixth-place finishes were achieved with
financial losses. Size and turnover should
see them into Europa League places.
State they're in
Despite turning around the
previous season’s £20m loss in the
Championship, and Alex McLeish’s side
lifting the Carling Cup, Birmingham are
the Premier League’s headache club.
£24.65m has to be found for the club and
its Cayman Islands-registered holding
company to “operate within its agreed
banking facilities”. So far £7.15m of that
money, underwritten by Polly Chu, who
runs casinos in Macau, has come in, but
the share issue for the other £17.15m has
not completed.
Outlook Carson Yeung-led regime
needs to find substantially more money.
Relegation could be catastrophic.
State they're in
These are the valedictory figures of the
former chairman, John Williams, who
wrestled 10 years in the Premier League,
the Carling Cup in 2002 and four seasons
in the Uefa Cup from a modicum of
financial backing by the trustees of the
late Jack Walker’s estate. The takeover
by Venky’s, the Indian chicken company,
is one of English football’s oddest; it
sacked Sam Allardyce and Williams
quickly left. Under Steve Kean, Rovers
have plummeted into a relegation battle.
Outlook Were punching above their true
size with a £3m annual subsidy from
Walker’s estate. Will struggle if Venky’s
does not show it is a sensible owner.
State they're in
These figures from Blackpool’s promotion
season show how far the Seasiders
gambled on climbing up into the Premier
League money pot. Valery Belokon,
a Latvian industrialist, paid £4.5m in
2006 for 20% of Blackpool, which has
long been owned and bankrolled by
the publisher Owen Oyston, and run by
his son, Karl. Although credited with
doing so shrewdly, and avoiding paying
agents, the wage bill was 144% of the
total income, making a £7m loss.
Outlook A season in the Premier League
should have transformed finances,
whether they stay up or go down. This
season’s vast income has been banked.

Manchester City Manchester United Newcastle United Stoke City Sunderland

Turnover £125m ▲ Turnover £286m ▲ Turnover £52m ▼ Turnover £59m ▲ Turnover £65m #
up from £87m in 2009 up from £278m in 2009 down from £101m in 2009 up from £54m in 2009 same as 2009
Gate and match-day income £18m Gate and match-day income £100m Gate and match-day income £21m Gate and match-day income £13m
TV and broadcasting £54m TV and broadcasting £104m TV and broadcasting £16m TV and broadcasting £39m
Commercial £53m Commercial £81m Commercial £15m Sponsorship and royalties £8m
Commercial activities £5m

Wage bill £133m ▲ Wage bill £131m ▲ Wage bill £47m ▼ Wage bill £45m ▲ Wage bill £54m ▲
up from £82m in previous year up from £123m in 2009 down from £73m in previous year up from £30m in 2009 up from £50m in previous year
Wages as proportion of turnover 106% Wages as proportion of turnover 46% Wages as proportion of turnover 90% Wages as proportion of turnover 76% Wages as proportion of turnover 83%
Loss before tax £121m Loss before tax £79m Loss before tax £17m Loss before tax £5m Loss before tax £28m
following £93m loss in previous year following profit of £22m in 2009 following loss of £15m the previous year following profit of £0.5m in 2009 following £26m loss in previous year

Net debt £41m Net debt £590m Net debt £150m Net debts £8m Net debt £66m
Interest payable £4m Interest payable £107m Interest payable £2m Interest payable £6,000 Interest payable £2m
Highest paid director Highest paid director Highest paid director Highest paid director Highest paid director
Garry Cook £2m David Gill £2m Unnamed director £0.174m Unnamed director £0.119m Niall Quinn £0.326m
Accounts for the year to 31 May 2010 Accounts for the year to 30 June 2010 Accounts for the year to 30 June 2010 Accounts for the year to 31 May 2010 Accounts for the year to 31 July 2010

Ownership Ownership Ownership Ownership Ownership

Wholly owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan Malcolm Glazer and his family via Red Football Limited Mike Ashley via his company St James Holdings Limited Owned by online gambling company, bet365 Group Ellis Short via Drumaville, a company registered in Jersey
via the Abu Dhabi United Group, Partnership and Red Football General Partner Inc, both controlled by Denise Coates, the daughter of chairman, Peter,
registered in United Arab Emirates registered in the low-tax State of Nevada, US Money put in by owners £140m and family Money put in by owner £115m
in loans £47m in the year (£19m cash, £28m interest-free loans)
Money put in by owners £493m Money put in by owners Nil Money put in by owners £43m
in cash £28m in cash, £15m in interest-free loans

Turnover Turnover Turnover Turnover Turnover

£125m £286m £52m £59m £65m

Wage bill Wage bill Wage bill Wage bill Wage bill

£133m £131m £47m £45m £54m

Debt as % of Premier League total Debt as % of Premier League total Debt as % of Premier League total Debt as % of Premier League total Debt as % of Premier League total

1.6% 23.4% 6.0% 0.3% 2.6%

State they're in
Almost £500m cash from Sheikh
Mansour has been poured into City in
32 months. Hence the £133m wage bill
and £121m loss, the Premier League’s
biggest. Uefa’s financial fair play rules
seek to outlaw this kind of benefactor
bankrolling. The chairman, Khaldoon
al-Mubarak, and Garry Cook believe
they can increase income sufficiently,
boosted by the Champions League next
season, full houses at Eastlands and
increased commercial income.
Outlook Determined to satisfy
Mansour’s desire for success, while
shuffling towards breaking even. An
extreme challenge to do so in the time.
State they're in
More itemisation of the Glazer family’s
monstrous, debt-laden takeover. United
are the Premier League’s most lucrative
club, with the highest income, £286m,
once Arsenal’s one-off £156m boost from
selling the Highbury flats is taken out.
Still made a £79m loss. Refinancing with
the £500m bond last year cost £65m.
Owe £500m, even after paying out
around £350m to service the loans the
Glazers took on in 2005 to buy the club.
Outlook The costs of the Glazers’
takeover will still be draining, but Sir
Alex Ferguson’s management, and the
club’s increasing commercial income, are
keeping United formidable.
State they're in
Figures from Newcastle’s promotion
season; with turnover halved, the
club kept a huge wage bill for the
Championship and finished top. Mike
Ashley has been vilified for awful
decisions and an absence of grace, yet he
has put £140m in interest-free loans into
the club. With St James’ Park’s 52,000
capacity and the fans having proved
their loyalty many times over, Newcastle
should be a force. Also have the £35m
from selling Andy Carroll and fans wait
to see if Ashley will see it spent wisely.
Outlook Should be financially strong and
able to rebuild. But this is Newcastle,
and Ashley, so anything could happen.
State they're in
Stoke’s achievement in establishing
themselves in the Premier League is
thanks financially to the backing of
Peter Coates and his family fortune from
bet365 online gambling. After returning
in 2005 to buy back the club he has
always supported, Coates has put in
£43m, much of it towards buying players
for Tony Pulis to keep Stoke up. The wage
bill is climbing steadily, as it tends to do
once promoted clubs grow in ambition.
Having been the owner when Stoke went
down to the third tier in 1998, Coates
knows it can quickly change.
Outlook Healthy, with the Coates family
committed to backing the club.
State they're in
Difficult not to wonder whether this
is how US private equity investor Ellis
Short imagined owning a Premier
League club would be, when chairman
Niall Quinn met him at the US
Masters golf and sold him the idea of
Sunderland. The £47m Short paid last
year to bankroll a high wage bill and
£28m losses followed £67.5m paid in and
converted into shares the previous year,
when Sunderland needed to be bailed
out of probable financial crisis.
Outlook Even with Short’s financial
support, losses do not look sustainable.
Sunderland have to wrestle the wage bill
down, while remaining competitive.
The Guardian | Thursday 19 May 2011 5

accounts at England’s top clubs David

Conn

Bolton Wanderers Chelsea Everton Fulham Liverpool

Turnover £62m ▲ Turnover £213m ▲ Turnover £79m ▼ Turnover £77m ▲ Turnover £185m ▲
up from £59m in 2009 up from £209m in 2009 down from £80m in 2009 up from £67m in 2009 up from £177m in 2009
Gate and match-day income £9m Football activities £185m Gate and match-day income £19m Gate and match-day income £11m Gate and match-day income £43m
TV and broadcasting £38m Hotel/catering £10m TV and broadcasting £50m TV and broadcasting £42m TV and broadcasting £80m
Hotel £8m Corporate hospitality £2m Other commerical activities £10m Commercial £11m Commercial £62m
Corporate hospitality £2m Other commercial £5m Europa League £12m
Merchandising £1m Merchandising £11m
Sponsorship/advertising £3m
Wage bill £46m ▲ Wage bill £174m ▲ Wage bill £54m ▲ Wage bill £49m ▲ Wage bill £121m ▲
up from £41m in 2009 up from £167m in 2009 up from £49m in previous year up from £46m in 2009 up from £100m in previous year
Wages as proportion of turnover 74% Wages as proportion of turnover 82% Wages as proportion of turnover 69% Wages as proportion of turnover 63% Wages as proportion of turnover 65%
Loss before tax £35m Loss before tax £78m Loss before tax £3m Loss before tax £19m Loss before tax £20m
following £13m loss in 2009 following loss of £47m in 2009 following £7m loss in 2009 following £8.4m loss in 2009 following £16m loss in 2009

Net debt £93m Net debt £734m Net debt £45m Net debt £190m Net debt £123m
Interest payable £5m Interest payable £0.8m Interest payable £4m Interest payable £2m Interest payable £18m
Highest paid director Highest paid director Highest paid director Highest paid director Highest paid director
Phil Gartside £0.532m Peter Kenyon £0.825m No directors were paid Alastair Mackintosh £0.55m Unnamed director £0.75m
Accounts for the year to 30 June 2010 Accounts for the year to 30 June 2010 Accounts for the year to 31 May 2010 Accounts for the year to 30 June 2010 Accounts for the year to 31 July 2010*

Ownership Ownership Ownership Ownership Ownership

95% owned by Fildraw, private trust owned by Wholly owned by Roman Abramovich Everton FC Limited major shareholders are: Mafco Holdings A Bermuda- (tax haven) based company Fenway Sports Group (US company owned by John Henry)
Edwin Davies, resident in Isle of Man, a tax haven registered as a Russian resident at Companies House Bill Kenwright 25% which is owned by Mohamed Al Fayed and his family *Accounts for a year when owned by Tom Hicks and George
Robert Earl (US resident) 23% Gillett, via US-registered Kop Investment LLC
Money put in by owners £85m Money put in by owners up to £739m Jon Woods 19% Money put in by owners £187m
loaned by Davies at 5% interest from his company, Moonshift Abramovich’s loans to the parent company, Fordstam Interest-free loans by Al Fayed’s companies Money put in by owners £144m
Money put in by owners Nil In interest-bearing loans, to the holding company

Turnover Turnover Turnover Turnover Turnover

£62m £213m £79m £77m £185m

Wage bill Wage bill Wage bill Wage bill Wage bill

£46m £174m £54m £49m £121m

Debt as % of Premier League total Debt as % of Premier League total Debt as % of Premier League total Debt as % of Premier League total Debt as % of Premier League total

4.1% 29.3% 1.8% 7.5% 4.8%

State they're in
Chairman and FA board member Phil
Gartside spent two years advocating
a Premier League second division, to
cushion the financial blow for relegated
clubs. The increased parachute
payments, £48m over four seasons,
were introduced partly to mollify that
worry. Gartside has cause to be terrified
of relegation: a 14th-place finish, after
10 consecutive seasons in the Premier
League, achieved at a loss of £35m, with
debts up to £93m and £85m loans.
Outlook Controversial recruitment of
Owen Coyle from Burnley has proven
successful. Challenge is to stay up
without huge losses and owner’s subsidy.
State they're in
This was the year the former chief
executive, Peter Kenyon, said Chelsea
would be making enough money
commercially to break even. Won
the title with the Premier League’s
highest wage bill and recorded a
£78m loss. Abramovich’s relentless
ambition pushed his spending since
2003 to £739m, and £75m in January on
Fernando Torres and David Luiz suggests
he will find it hard to restrain himself.
Outlook Income is third highest behind
Manchester United and Arsenal but,
given Abramovich’s obsession with
winning, will be hard-pressed to break
even and comply with financial fair play.
State they're in
Have wriggled with frustration for years
at grand old Goodison’s commercial
limitations. But on the income of £79m,
with a wage bill less than a third of
Chelsea’s, David Moyes’s team have
performed creditably. The chairman,
Bill Kenwright, has pushed the finances
as far as he can. Had Everton not sold
Joleon Lescott to Manchester City for
£22m, they would have recorded a loss
of £22m. The chairman says his search
for a benefactor goes on.
Outlook If Everton could appreciate
their blessings – homely old ground,
steely manager, strong team – they could
be happy, but the club wants success.
State they're in
The remarkable story of Mohamed Al
Fayed’s long, deep subsidy of Fulham.
The £187m he has loaned interest-free
to embed the club at Craven Cottage and
finance its rise from the bottom division
to the Premier League has belied the
early expectation that he would cash
in. Still complains about players’ wages
draining clubs, and argues that only
BSkyB actually makes money out of the
Premier League, but with Harrods sold
to the Qatari ruling dynasty for £1.5bn
last year, Al Fayed shows no sign of
withdrawing.
Outlook Fortunes depend on indulgence
of owner and his continued enthusiasm.
State they're in
Figures confirm that John Henry’s
Fenway Sports Group repaid £200m
owed to Royal Bank of Scotland, which
Hicks and Gillett had borrowed to take
the club over. Liverpool made a £20m
loss and the £185m turnover included
Champions League income from 2009-
10, which the club must do without this
season and next. FSG’s takeover has
not changed much financially so far,
retaining the club’s own borrowings
from RBS, which are high at £86.6m.
Outlook Financial fair play should see
Liverpool climb back. But if they want to
challenge United again, FSG must decide
how to expand stadium capacity.

Tottenham Hotspur West Bromwich Albion West Ham United Wigan Athletic Wolverhampton W
Turnover £119m ▲ Turnover £28m ▼ Turnover £72m ▼ Turnover £43m ▼ Turnover £61m ▲
up from £113m in 2009 down from £47m in 2009 down from £76m in 2009 down from £46m in 2009 up from £18m in 2009
Gate and match-day income £27m Gate and match-day income £6m Gate and match-day income £17m Gate and match-day income £10m
TV and broadcasting £52m TV and broadcasting £17m TV and broadcasting £38m TV and broadcasting £39m
Sponsorship and corporate hospitality £26m Merchandising £2m Commercial activities £13m Sponsorship and advertising £5m
Merchandising £8m Other commercial income £3m Retail and merchandising £4m Commercial activities £6m
Commercial activities £8m

Wage bill £67m ▲ Wage bill £23m ▼ Wage bill £54m ▼ Wage bill £39m ▼ Wage bill £30m ▲
up from £60m in 2009 down from £31m in 2009 down from £67m in 2009 down from £42m in 2009 up from £17m in 2009
Wages as proportion of turnover 56% Wages as proportion of turnover 82% Wages as proportion of turnover 75% Wages as proportion of turnover 91% Wages as proportion of turnover 49%
Loss before tax £7m Profit before tax £0.5m Loss before tax £21m Loss before tax £4m Profit before tax £9m
following profit of £33m in 2009 following loss of £12m in 2009 following £16m loss in previous year following £6m loss in previous year following £5m loss in previous year

Net debt £65m Net debt £10m Net debt £34m Net debt £73m Net debt £0m
Interest payable £6m Interest payable £0.09m Interest payable £4m Interest payable £0.9m Wolves had £25m cash in the bank
Highest paid director Highest paid director Highest paid director Highest paid director Highest paid director
Daniel Levy £1.4m Jeremy Peace £0.712m Unnamed director £0.332m Brenda Spencer not declared Unnamed director £1.1m
Accounts for the year to 30 June 2010 Accounts for the year to 30 June 2010 Accounts for the year to 31 May 2010 Accounts for the year to 31 May 2010 Accounts for the year to 31 May 2010
Ownership
Ownership Ownership David Sullivan 30.6% Ownership Ownership
Enic International Limited registered in the Bahamas, owns Jeremy Peace chairman 60% David Gold 30.6% Dave Whelan and family Steve Morgan 25% personally and 75% via his company
85%. Joe Lewis, resident in the Bahamas, has the controlling, Geoff Hale 10.4% Straumur, the Icelandic investment bank which is in a form of via Whelco Holdings, registered in the UK Bridgemere Investments, based in Guernsey
70.6% ownership of Enic, with chairman Daniel Levy and administration, owns 35%
family owning the other 29.4%. Money put in by owners Nil Money put in by owners Money put in by owner £52m Money put in by owners £30m
Money put in by owners £15m £24m from Sullivan & Gold for extra 5.6% stake each. £20m to from Dave Whelan, interest free except for £7.5m on which In shares, in August 2007
by an issue of new shares buy 50% last year. Straumur wrote off £10m debt 5% a year is charged

Turnover Turnover Turnover Turnover Turnover

£119m £28m £72m £43m £61m

Wage bill Wage bill Wage bill Wage bill Wage bill

£67m £23m £54m £39m £30m

Debt as % of Premier League total Debt as % of Premier League total Debt as % of Premier League total Debt as % of Premier League total Debt as % of Premier League total

2.6% 0.4% 1.4% 2.9% 0%

State they're in
Spurs pushed their finances, with a
£15m investment from Enic and making
a £7m loss, to just secure a Champions
League place via the 2009-10 last-match
victory at Manchester City. Turnover
will have been increased by their run in
the competition this season, but Levy is
desperate to build a bigger stadium than
36,534 capacity White Hart Lane. The
clearest comparison is with Spurs’ north
London rivals Arsenal: they made £156m
from their property development, and
their football-based income of £226m
was almost double that of Spurs.
Outlook Will be a strong Premier League
club even at White Hart Lane.
State they're in
Considered to be a well-run club who
have made their peace with yo-yoing,
trying to stay in the Premier League
without overstretching. These figures
are for last season’s promotion, in which
Albion cut the wage bill, keeping it at
£23m, huge for the Championship, with
the benefit of parachute payments and
went up comfortably. Have little debt,
and a good season staying up this year
will have improved their finances
Outlook Concentrate on doing as well
as they can while remaining financially
sound. Roy Hodgson’s success has
proved again how vital it is for any club’s
fortunes to appoint the right manager.
State they're in
Sullivan laments that West Ham are in
“a worse financial position than any
club in the country”. Sullivan and Gold’s
investment brought net debt down to
£34m. West Ham made a £21m loss and
relegation will cause a crisis. Yet Sullivan
believes West Ham will soon be worth
£500m. The foundations for that will
be laid if the club occupies the Olympic
stadium after 2012, a huge commercial
advantage for him and Gold, thanks to
£490m of public money, about which it
is surprising there is not more protest.
Outlook Dire in the short term.
Occupying the Olympic stadium would
represent a huge financial windfall.
State they're in
Dave Whelan’s hometown project
continues at the stadium he named DW,
but, aged 74, he is worrying who will
take it over after him. Wigan, a club of
humble football tradition which entered
the old Fourth Division for the first time
in 1978, were sprung into the Premier
League with an investment Whelan
reckons to be £100m. Relegation will
make Whelan’s task much more difficult.
Outlook Whelan hopes to give his club
away to a safe, wealthy new owner as
Sir Jack Hayward did to Steve Morgan at
Wolves. But Wigan lack Wolves’ support
and tradition, and he will find it hard to
attract a willing backer.
State they're in
In their first season in the Premier
League, Wolves’ turnover increased
by £43m, boosted by their £39m share
of the top flight’s TV and sponsorship
deals, compared to £2m the previous
season in the Championship. The wage
bill increased by £13m, as Morgan stayed
true to his promise not to be dazzled
by promotion and ran Wolves like a
business. So a £9m profit was made
and according to Morgan, Wolves have
invested substantially to try to stay up.
Outlook Morgan has been careful with
the Premier League bounty so Wolves
are likely to be financially healthy even
if they go down.